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A STUDY OF DRIVERS IN MAJOR ACCIDENTS

September, 1955 - April, 1956

STATE

By:

Harold L. Gaunt

Laurence W. Murray

COMMITTEE ON

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URBAN LAND USE AND TRAFFIC STUDIES

W.P.A. Project 1443

June, 1936-

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The highway accident situation is becoming reeog­n:i.zed as one of the major problems of the day. The great social and economic loss is v1ell known. We have passed the 11and Sudden Death11 phase of the campaign -everyone has become sufficiently awakened to tho dangers of highway ~ravel - f uture work must be devoted to de­termir,ing the causc~s of accidents and devising means of eliminating these causes .

The Iowa State Planning Board is eager to coopc~r-· ate in any concerted movement dedicated to r educing highway accidents such as the program whi ch the recent­ly organized State Safety Council :Ls sponsoring. An intelligent approach to the solution of the accident problem is through the analysis of adequate accident reports. 'ro · that end this prc~liminary study of the driv­ers involved in major accidents is presented .

The highway accident situation i s becoming recog-­nized as one of the major problems of the day. The great social and economic loss is v1ell k.novm. We have passed the 11and Sudden Death" phase of the campaign -everyone has become sufficiently awakened to the dangers of highway travel - f uture work must be devoted to de­termining the causes of accidents and devising means of eliminating t hese causes .

The Iowa State Planning Boa:cd i s eager to cooper­ate in a~y concerted movement dedicated to r educing highway accidents such as "\",he program whi.eh. t he recent­ly organized State Safety Counc:il is sponsoring . An intelligent approach to the solution of the accident problem i s through t;he analy:;;is of adequate accident :reports. 'l'o· that end this preliminary study of thB driv­ers involved in major accidents is presented .

A S'fUDY OF DHIVgRS IN lvlAJOR ACCIDEN'fS

The human factor in accidents has always been great, and it long has been apparent that much must be done in both education and enforce­ment bl~forc marked improvement may be expected in our accident r ecord. Educational p:r:ograms htwe been dir0cted at Iowa motor vehicle drivers f or some time , but t ho enac tment of a strict Driver ' s Li cense Law las t year was tho f:Lr-st official move to r educe accidents by t aking the dan£~t'Jrous driver off the road.

This preliminary study of the drivers involved. in major accidents in Iowa and their subsequent examination was undertaken by the State Plan­ning Board at the suggestion of the State Motor Vehicle Department. All per~;onnl i njury and f atal accidents , and those property damage accidents of such serious nature as to indicate t he suspension or revocation of t he driver's license , occurrlng in the State from September, 1955 to Apri.l, 1.956 ar e incl uded. 'rhe l, 209 acc.idents stud.Led r epresent only twenty per cent of' the accidents of all types that occurred in Imm dur­ing this time . Only tho drivers who \Vere determined by the examiner::; t o be at fault are included in this study .

This study was made to dc::tormine t he effectiv(mess of the Motor Ve­hicle Inspection Depe.rtment in administl')l'ing the revi sed Driver ' s License Law passed by the Legisl ature in 1955. 'rhe i nspectors were organized and trained i n tho fall of 1905, and wer e placed i n t ho field that winter. The figures shown in this report are the r esults of their work s ince that time . It may appear t hat t he invoiltigati on of only 70 per cGnt of t he major accidents in the St:::te is a rather poor record, but we must realize that, t h8 work was new, the examiners had to be trained, the public had to become accustomed to the new law, and in many cases local l ow enforcement officers h.:ld been lax :i.n these matters .

Tho purpose and the time ave.ilable for this study eliminated tho con­sideration of such pertinent data as the location of the accidents, the condition of thc-J vehicles , the weather condition, and the condition of the road . Attention was center•3d upon the driver, his trca.tment at the hands of t he inspector s , and his prev-ious accident his t ory . Howcwer , the Plann­ing Bourd dx:s cont(:Jmplato making a detailed analysi s in the near future of t he causes and t he circumstancen surr ounding all f atul motor accidents which have occured in Iowa in the last five years.

All the records ')f t he Motor Vehicle Department were available for this study . Th0 need for m)re complete reporting of accident data i s clearly evident . The data on the prevbus accident history of t hese dri­vers have not bet-=:n compl eted, and for tha.t reason t hey are not included in t his preliminary r epor t . Because of t he fragmentary records , and be­cause many of the cases included i n thi s study wer1:1 n0t closed the figures do not. cht:ck in c~very instance. In spite of this t he figures are a rel:L­able indication 'lf t he trend in motor vehicle law enforcement .

An analysis of the stati:.;tics shows: -·

'l'hat two-thirds of th0 drivers lived in towns or cities of more t han 1,000 popultltion. (The 1930 cerwus figures show that less than one-half of the State ' s population lives in towns and cities of more than 1,000 popul<).tion .)

That 1~ per cent of the drivers at fault in these major aecidents were women. (The report of all accidents for 1955 shows that only 9 per cent of the drivers involved in nccidents were women .)

That more than one-h<.lf of these drivers were · swnmoned to appear for examination. Of the number summoned more than one-sixth failed to appear . Only five per cent of those tt~king tho examination failed to pass.

More than tVJo-thircls of t heoe accidents were investigated by the state inspectors .

One hundred sixty-six driver's licenses wore suspended for a total of 42~· years; ~9 licenses were suspended indefinitely; and 22 driver • s licenses were revoked. ( 'rhis is not the final .figure on these ce.sc~s . Obviously the Motor Vehicle Department very rarely· suspends licenses prior to a court action being completed. In instnnces where cases are pending and contin­uances ha.ve been granted more licenses may be suspended . )

Two hundred sixteen charges were filed against drivers in these aeci­dents.

, 1

AGE OF DRIVER Under 20. . . . . . . 2(}-29 . :50-49 50-64 65 and over . . . . . not stated.

SEX OF DRIVER

A STUDY OF DRIVERS IN MAJOR ACCIDENTS September , 1935 - April , 1936

Total Sl~MMONED TO APPEAR FOR EXAMINA'riON . . . 120 (continued)

314 Fai led to appear . . . 540 Vehicles ihspected. . . . . . 110 Dr iving tests given . 55 Vision tests given . .

290 Law tests given . . . . DEFEC.'l'S

Male. . . . . . 1067 (Determined by the inspectors in the Female . . . . . . . . 142 course of their examination . )

Mental . . .... . Number of persons killed . 256 Epi lepsy . . . . . • . Number of persons injured . 13'75 · Vision. . . .

Hear t trouble . . . . . . IMPROPER DRIVING Aged, infirm. . . . . .

Speeding. . . . . . . . . . . 95 Other • . . . . . . . . Reckless drivi ng. . . . . . . 507 On wrong side of road . 104 ACTI ON 'l'AKEN AGAINST 'I'HESE DRI VERS Violated right-of- way . 194 CHARGES FILED Lost control. . . . . . 125 Careless and reckless driving • . Cut in. . . . . . . . . 15 Operating Vehicle while intoxi-· Passing standing street car . 2 cated. . . . . . . . Passing on curve or hill . . . . . 13 Failure to stop at stop sign . . . Passing on wrong side . 5 Speeding . . Failed to signal . . . . 42 Overloading . . . . . Disr egarded stop sign . 48 Other . . . . . Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Following too closely . 55 OPERATOR'S PEill~IT SUSPENDED Disregarded signal 15 Indefinite . . . . . . . Improper parking. . . . . . . 28 10 days . . . . . No improper driving . 205 15 days . Not stated. . . . . . . . 157 50 days .

60 days . . . . . . DRIVER 'S CONDITION 90 days . . . . . (At time of acc i dent ) 6 months. . . . . . .

Asleep. . . . . . . . . . 15 l year . . . Had been drinking . . . . 118 Physical defects. . . . . . 21 PERMIT REVOKED . View obstructed . . . . . . . 68 Blinded by headlights . 41 PEDESTRIANS Not stated. . . . . . 879 What pedestrians were doing :

Crossing at intersection . SUMMONED TO APPEAR FOR EXAMINATION 696 Jay walking . . . . . . .

Passed exam . . 546 Alighting from curs. . Failed exam . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Condition of pedestrians :

Intoxicated. . . . . . . Sixty-seven per cent of the drivers lived in towns or cities of more than one thousand population .

Eight hundr13d sovonty- nine of these accidents wer e investigated by t he Stut e Mo tor Vehicle Ins pectors .

Total

120 58 93

128 118

3 2 8 2 B

ll

216 139

31 12 15

2 17

195 29 12 26 45 21 20 26 16

22

59 168 12

20